Employment Agencies Act (EAA)

The Employment Agencies Act (EAA) is a piece of legislation which sets a minimum standard of conduct for recruitment agencies in the UK.

What does the EAA mean for me?

The Act aims to protect the best interests of you as a candidate, as well as the interests of the hirer. Additionally, the regulations provide added protection for jobseekers and companies using the services of recruiters and stipulate how recruitment businesses should operate.

As part of meeting these regulations, you will need to provide us with some simple information, including:

Proof of identification – if you apply for a job through us, we are required to ask you to provide proof of identification. We may also ask you for evidence of any training or qualifications that are mandatory for specific positions with particular companies.

Referees - we will ask you for two references or two referees that we can contact on your behalf in accordance with Recruitment Employment Confederation (REC) guidelines. This information may then be passed on to a future possible employer, once you have given your permission.

Informing you of Health & Safety practices

As well as providing you with factual and detailed information about a vacancy, we will share with you any Health & Safety documentation that the end employer has provided to us. This will often be in the form of a questionnaire.

Limited Company contractors

If you are a Limited Company contractor, you can ‘opt out’ of the regulations. Whilst the regulations have been conceived to ensure greater legislative protection for candidates, there may be issues which conflict with the spirit of the IR35 rules.

Opting out of the regulations will have benefits if you decide that you want to be considered self-employed. This will mean you will not be afforded the same protection as that of our PAYE workers but does bring you a step closer to being seen as genuinely self-employed and therefore could be viewed as outside the scope of the IR35 tax rules. If you wish to opt-out, you need to do so before your contract starts. To do this, please inform your consultant and sign and return the EAA opt-out form. Please note if we do not receive your signed form then your opt-out will be invalid.

For more information on these rules and the implications and benefits of opting out of the Conduct Regulations, please take independent advice from Professional Passport or view the Government guidance – EAA guidance notes.